Lights, 16volt?

[SaltLifeCC]

Take all of the above into consideration. The bulbs will burn hotter, increasing the chances of melting something, shorten the life of the bulbs, and put more load on 2 of the batteries in your pack, eventually shortening the life of those quicker than the other batteries. There are 2 better approaches that will cost a few dollars but avoid all of the above. First, install a voltage reducer that feeds off the entire pack and gives you a 12 volt source to work from. This still puts extra load on your batteries but it is done evenly. The second option, which is the one I went with, is to simply find a convenient spot to put a dedicated 12v battery to run accessories off of. Some don't like that option because it's a separate battery you have to keep charged. But, depending on how much you use lights/accessories, you won't have to charge it as often as the cart. I installed my battery in a plastic box like you see on a lot of boats. Before I put the cover on, I hooked up the detachable leads that came with my battery tender and ran the end out of the side of the battery box cover. I keep my battery tender right beside my cart charger. Now and then, when I plug the cart in to charge, I plug the tender in as well, takes 10 extra seconds, and let it charge. I have never come close to running out of power for my lights and stereo quicker than I start to lose power to the cart and it needs to be charged up.

[wbwood]

Do you need separate voltage reducers for each item? I.e. lights and radio. Or will one reducer work on both?

[SaltLifeCC]

One works for all. However, i would recommend feeding the reducer to a fuse block and then wire each 12v accessory to that. And either get a reducer that has an on/off switch or wire one in and use it. I have heard stories about reducers left on and burning carts down. Which is another reason i decided to go with a separate battery instead.

[Plasterface]

Nice, that scared me a little and since my motor comtroller and solenoid is blown, i put in a switchfor the reducer, a little piece of mind.

[Dingleberry]

QUESTION/HI-JACK? I read somewhere that if you have the 12 volt system you can hook your lights to one of the 12 volt series, but I don't know how to do that since they are all hooked together? And, does that make the one 12v battery hooked to the lights die faster than the others?

[Stevegrmich]

Originally Posted by Dingleberry

QUESTION/HI-JACK? I read somewhere that if you have the 12 volt system you can hook your lights to one of the 12 volt series

CORRECT



And, does that make the one 12v battery hooked to the lights die faster than the others?

CORRECT AGAIN

. . .

[camaroluvz28]

Again best way is to get a 48v-12volt reducer, you can hook to one battery by just puttting positve on the positive post of the battery and negative on Negative post of same battery, but it will kill that battery quicker than the others, both in charge cycle and long term life of battery.

[Dingleberry]

Thanks Guys! Looks like I'm getting a reducer!

[SaltLifeCC]

Originally Posted by Dingleberry

QUESTION/HI-JACK? I read somewhere that if you have the 12 volt system you can hook your lights to one of the 12 volt series, but I don't know how to do that since they are all hooked together? And, does that make the one 12v battery hooked to the lights die faster than the others?

Kills that battery quicker and wears it out, over time, quicker than the others, which, in turn, starts to wear out the rest of the pack quicker than it, otherwise, would. You may also see other irritating things such as your lights dimming and/or your radio suddenly shutting off, when you hit the go pedal. I experienced all of the above, plus the fact that the juice to my radio and lights would go away before the cart would stop going. PITA. So, it was a reducer or a separate battery. I chose the extra battery - either works.

[club car direct]

Originally Posted by SaltLifeCC

Take all of the above into consideration. The bulbs will burn hotter, increasing the chances of melting something, shorten the life of the bulbs, and put more load on 2 of the batteries in your pack, eventually shortening the life of those quicker than the other batteries. There are 2 better approaches that will cost a few dollars but avoid all of the above. First, install a voltage reducer that feeds off the entire pack and gives you a 12 volt source to work from. This still puts extra load on your batteries but it is done evenly. The second option, which is the one I went with, is to simply find a convenient spot to put a dedicated 12v battery to run accessories off of. Some don't like that option because it's a separate battery you have to keep charged. But, depending on how much you use lights/accessories, you won't have to charge it as often as the cart. I installed my battery in a plastic box like you see on a lot of boats. Before I put the cover on, I hooked up the detachable leads that came with my battery tender and ran the end out of the side of the battery box cover. I keep my battery tender right beside my cart charger. Now and then, when I plug the cart in to charge, I plug the tender in as well, takes 10 extra seconds, and let it charge. I have never come close to running out of power for my lights and stereo quicker than I start to lose power to the cart and it needs to be charged up.

Great idea ! Are you using a motorcycle battery ?